If you want to know what's in your yogurt, make it yourself. It's easy and you'll save money and waste. We show you - step by step
Yogurt is healthy and perfect as a snack. However, in addition to sugar and sugar additives, store-bought yogurt often contains artificial flavorings, thickeners and other chemical additives. That is why we rely on Make yogurt yourself!
Especially in fruit yogurt, you'll find the strangest ingredients as fillers and flavorings. These range from yeast and mold cultures to wood shavings. In your homemade yogurt, you decide what's in it.
Today you will learn how to Make yogurt yourself can!
Table of contents
You can make pure natural yogurt with these instructions or refine it with fruits, spices and herbs. This is entirely up to your taste.
Making healthy and fresh yogurt with natural ingredients that you often have at home anyway is easy. And the time required? Little.
A delicious natural yogurt goes perfectly with homemade crunchy muesli, to Quinoa porridge, Millet porridge or as a snack with lots of fresh fruit.
Why yogurt is worth making yourself
The biggest and most important advantage of homemade yogurt over store-bought: You know what's in it. Your body is not burdened with chemical additives. You can also determine which milk you use for it, whether animal or vegan. Depending on your taste, you can refine your yogurt with natural ingredients.
Over the long term, you save on the Make yogurt yourself also money. The energy consumption and time required are low. Above all, you save unnecessary plastic waste, which has become a major problem worldwide.
I love fruit yogurt. But there's so much sugar in store-bought yogurt. With two cups of yogurt, you've already covered your daily sugar requirement. Frightening.
When making yogurt myself, I simply stir in sweet fruit and a little honey in between. Tastes even better than the sugar version and is much healthier.
That's why you shouldn't buy probiotic yogurt!
Ingredients to make yogurt yourself
You decide what goes into your yogurt. However, milk and yogurt bacteria are mandatory.
Milk for the homemade yogurt
- Cow's milk
- Goat milk
- Milk lactose free
- Soy milk
- Oat milk
Cow's milk comes in fat levels of 1.5%, 3.0% and 3.8%. The rule here is that high fat content makes for a creamier yogurt. If you are lactose intolerant, goat's milk and lactose-free milk are ideal; if you are vegan, use soy or oat milk.
If you do not have problems with lactose processing or do not live vegan, you can also use UHT milk. It has the advantage that you do not have to boil it before stirring in the lactic acid bacteria. Whole milk, on the other hand, must always be boiled first and then cooled to kill germs and bacteria.
The following applies to all types of milk: They must have a temperature of 40° before you add the lactic acid bacteria. It is best to use a kitchen thermometer to measure the temperature. If the milk is too warm or too cold, the bacteria cannot work properly and the yogurt remains liquid.
This is also the most difficult part of making yogurt yourself. Because if something goes wrong, it is to 90% the wrong temperature. The bacteria are very sensitive and make it difficult at first to make yogurt yourself. But eventually you get the hang of it and it goes very quickly.
Bacteria to make yogurt yourself
To turn milk into yogurt, you need bacterial cultures. These are available as special yogurt powder in health food stores or organic food stores. You can also use store-bought yogurt, but it must contain live cultures (Lb Bulgaricus).
If you're a beginner, get a yogurt starter kit to start with. In it you will find everything you need to know. Also a yogurt maker, a fermentation jar with lid, thermometer, yogurt cultures in sachets.
And what I find particularly great: free access to the Firment Online Academy.
If you want to continue making your own yogurt, you can use a portion - about 2 tablespoons per 1 liter of milk - of the homemade yogurt for this purpose.
However, this can only be done up to a maximum of seven times, as the number of bacteria decreases with each new preparation. After that, you need new yogurt powder or purchased yogurt again.
Delicious: Grilled peaches with yogurt
What you also need
To make yogurt yourself you also need:
- 1 pot
- 1 Kitchen thermometer
- Jars with screw lids for filling the yogurt
- Cooking spoon
What you need to consider when making yogurt
So that your homemade yogurt tasty and creamy, you have to 5 things note.
- Cleanliness during the entire process is important. If germs get into the milk, the yogurt is less durable
- Rinse the glasses well with hot water
- Use only fresh products. Check the shelf life
- Observe temperature specifications so that the bacterial cultures can act properly
- Depending on the type of preparation you need to keep the temperature constant for 8-12 hours
The different methods of making yogurt yourself
The easiest way to make yogurt is with a yogurt maker. This device is worth using if you regularly make your own yogurt. It has a well-insulated box with a container for hot water.
In it you put your jars with the "inoculated" milk. The yogurt maker takes over the temperature monitoring and regulation, often with timer function and post-cooling. There are devices with and without electricity.
My yogurt maker
For 60 euros, you can find a great yogurt maker with 40 watts in the starter set from Fairment. In the yogurt maker you can prepare 900 ml of yogurt. Filled in a practical glass jar.
On the thermometer you can read the temperature and set a timer.
I always set the timer when I leave the house in the morning. After 9 hours, the yogurt is ready and pleasantly mild. Just the way I like it. :)
Make yogurt yourself without yogurt maker
If you don't want to use a yogurt maker, you can use the oven or bed method. The most important thing with this method is that you maintain the temperature for more than twelve hours.
To make 1 liter of yogurt, follow these steps:
- Heat 1 liter of whole milk to at least 90° and bring to a boil. Then cool to 40°, measure temperature. UHT milk, lactose-free and vegan milk only need to be heated to 40°.
- Add yogurt powder or 50 ml or 2 tablespoons of purchased yogurt to the milk and whisk until smooth.
- Fill the mixture into the prepared jars and close them
Making yogurt yourself in the oven
Preheat the oven to 50° and when the temperature is reached, place the jars on a baking tray.
Make sure that this temperature is maintained evenly for 12 hours.
If it gets too warm, the lactic acid bacteria die. To prevent this, turn off the oven for a few minutes at regular intervals.
So easy you can make yogurt ice cream yourself
Make yogurt yourself with the bed variant
You wrap the filled jars well in towels and place them on a pre-warmed tray or container in your bed. It is best to do this in the morning, when the comforter is still warm. Cover the jars carefully, avoiding shocks. Check the temperature often. If it is too low, add a hot water bottle.
If everything works, your yogurt will be ready after 12 hours. It should be creamy and slightly firm to the touch. You can then put the finished yogurt in the refrigerator as usual. It will keep there for up to a week, but will become a little more sour in taste with each passing day.
If your first attempt is unsuccessful - don't give up. Try again, maybe the milk was too hot, the temperature in the oven too high or too low.
A tip for stitch-proof yogurt: Stir 1 tablespoon of powdered milk or inulin well into the milk mixture before pouring into the jars.
How to refine your DIY yogurt
Depending on your personal taste, you can refine your homemade yogurt. For this purpose, fresh fruit, fruit purees, spices such as Cinnamon* and vanilla, nuts, honey and grated chocolate.
If you prefer something savory, herbs are ideal. Make your own yogurt and enjoy it.
What makes the yogurt so healthy
Is yogurt really that healthy? Studies contradict each other in part. But what is certain is that good probiotic yogurt has an influence on the digestive tract. That is, it must contain live cultures. These bacteria are called "Lb Bulgaricus".
Added bacterial cultures thicken the milk, resulting in yogurt. These bacteria improve your intestinal flora and thus ensure healthy intestinal activity. In industrially produced yogurt are often "dead bacteria" that no longer have any effect.
Other healthy ingredients are fat, protein, vitamins, enzymes and minerals. Among them calcium and phosphorus, and important B vitamins that the body needs.
As a healthy snack or dessert is suitable homemade yogurt therefore in the best way. With fresh fruit and spices you can enhance this effect. One more reason to make your own yogurt.
Our conclusion
Making yogurt yourself is not difficult. You can determine yourself what goes in and save your wallet and the environment. In addition, you save your health, because homemade yogurt contains no artificial flavors and chemical additives.
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